Suspects arraigned after police say 300 bags of heroin, crack cocaine found at Torrington home

Police: 300 bags of heroin, crack cocaine found at Torrington home

By
Isaac Avilucea, The Register Citizen

Friday, June 20, 2014

BANTAM >> A court-appointed public defender for one of the suspects arrested late Thursday when police stormed a McKinley Street residence in Torrington and found more than 300 bags of heroin and crack cocaine said at a Friday arraignment he wasn’t involved in his alleged co-conspirator’s drug-dealing venture.

Arguing on behalf of 37-year-old Felix Ramos, attorney Carol Goldberg said Ramos, who is originally from Plano, Texas, was visiting a family friend at the 158 McKinley St. home for three weeks, and the circumstances of drug charges he faces are “substantially different” than that of 34-year-old Miguel Colon.

Both Ramos and Colon faced a judge for the first time at their arraignment on two counts of narcotics possession, two counts of narcotics possession with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana possession after members of the city’s special response team set off a flash bang device as a diversion in the backyard and used a battering ram to bust down the front door of the one-story brick home in an otherwise placid residential area on the outskirts of town.

An arrest warrant in that case was ordered sealed by the court for two weeks. His bond was reduced from a total of $200,000 to $100,000.

Ramos, a married father and maintenance supervisor at Dell Computers in Plano, Texas, was ordered held on a reduced $50,000 bond.

Goldberg, appointed only for bond purposes, said Ramos’ name doesn’t appear in the sealed arrest warrant for Colon. The cases were ordered transferred to Litchfield, where more serious offenses are heard.

Thursday’s raid, conducted by police detectives, narcotics officers and members of the special response team, was prompted by an ongoing investigation into Colon.

A police report says Detective James Crean was tipped off that Colon was allegedly selling heroin out of his McKinley Street home.

Police conducted a series of controlled buys, according to a police report, and officers observed him allegedly selling heroin out of a blue Acura.

The investigation culminated quickly, with a judge signing off on a search and seizure warrant earlier Thursday.

Combat-clad officers, armed with assault rifles, gathered outside the home around 6 p.m. the same day and took the suspects into custody within minutes. Officers pried opening boards to gain entry to a crawlspace. An animal control officer also hauled away a black pit bull, witnesses said.

Police spent several hours at the home gathering evidence.

Colon denied selling drugs and told police they’d find nothing illegal in the home, according to a police report.

A drug-sniffing police dog was brought to the residence and a search of the home turned up hundreds of bags of heroin, many which were found stashed in a plastic power tool case in the garage, police said.

A sweep of Colon’s bedroom turned up a zip lock bag of marijuana.

Ramos said a marijuana cigarette that fell out of his pants pocket and some found in the kitchen was his, police said. Police also seized a scale, 8.3 grams of cocaine and $13,000 in cash. The cash seizure wasn’t noted in the police report but was mentioned in a news release from the department.

Thursday’s drug bust was one of the city’s largest since 2011, when police seized more than 600 bags of heroin from a South Main Street apartment.

The owners of the home had just moved and new tenants were in the process of moving in, a neighbor said.

The Waterbury Republican-American reported Friday that a white BMW covered by a plastic tarp parked outside the residence and Colon’s blue Acura were towed away to an impound lot. Police said no one was available Friday to confirm that.